As a web designer myself, I can say that learning as much as I could from experts was how I got started. I looked at their sites, checked out their code, and even borrowed from their designs. Today there is a great deal of information available to help you get into the game, and this article is a great place to start learning.
Fixed navigation panels are a good way to allow your visitors to easily navigate your site. This means locking down the site’s navigation panel into position when the visitor scrolls up and down the webpage. This is not only convenient for the visitor, but can also be useful for internet marketers, as this makes it easier for visitors to take some desired action (e.g. buy a product, sign up for a newsletter).
Use JavaScript to include a custom font on your webpages. Libraries like Typekit and Google Web Fonts make it easy to include esoteric fonts on webpages, even if most visitors don’t have those fonts on their computers. It works by embedding the font itself into JavaScript so that it can be decoded by the client on the fly.
Don’t try to fit too much onto one page when you’re designing a website. If your page is too busy it will take a lot longer to load and can overwhelm visitors. When you’re going to be putting up a lot of content, create pages for everything you can to reduce the clutter on your page.
A search box should be included on your website that allows visitors to look up information on your site. People who are seeking something in particular are bound to be interested in finding a search box upon reaching your site. When you don’t have one, they are more likely to move on to another site that does. Put the box on the right-hand top of the page.
Keep your topics separate. Keep different topics on different pages. This will reduce visitor confusion and facilitate readability by the search engines.
Know your subject thoroughly. If you are using the site for blogs, research something thoroughly before you post it. When you do not seem genuine or knowledgeable, you will quickly lose readers. The trick to a great blog is knowing your subject.
If you are not feeling confident in any area at all when you’re designing a website then go ahead and ask for help from someone. You can either find help from a friend or from strangers on places like forums on the web. Just be sure you don’t tackle anything without knowing what you’re doing first.
Make sure your business logo is well-designed and prominently on every page of your site. Your logo is a key component of your brand, and it should be one of the first things people see when they go to your website. If you can’t come up with a good idea for a logo, there are design firms that will make you one at relatively low cost.
Use breadcrumbs and make it so that clicking on the site logo returns you to the homepage. Breadcrumbs are markers that show where the visitor is in the site structure. For instance, the breadcrumbs might read “home > furniture > beds.” When the user clicks a link in the breadcrumbs, he can return to a page further up in the site hierarchy. Clicking on a business logo should generally take the visitor back to the homepage as well.
To help you create good web pages and fix mistakes on your own, learn computer languages. Educating yourself on how a website actually works will help you quickly fix any mistakes. Knowing how to deal with problems on your site will save you time and money, as you will not have to rely on outside help to remedy the situation.
Selecting the right server to upload your files, it is important for site design. You want a file server that is reliable, secure and fast. The pros go with FileZilla because it fits the bill in terms of speed and reliability. You can choose this or something similar; what’s important is that you have a reliable file server.
If you expect many people to contribute to the content of the website, incorporating a content management system (CMS) into the design of the website might be a good idea. A CMS will make it easier for everyone to add to and update the content without needing a high level of technical knowledge. These systems are easy to use, and can make publishing content on the website much more efficient.
Now that QuistBuilder Websites has been designing websites for over a decade, we feel that they can give some advice back. Use the tips in this article, continue learning as much as you can, and stay on top of trends to ensure your websites stand out in the crowd. If I can do it, anyone can!